Two ways in. One firm.

What We Offer

Whether you need rigorous evidence to make a critical decision, a strategy for communicating complex or risk-laden information to the people who need it, or both — our work starts with the science and ends with something you can actually use.

Most clients draw on both service areas. Many engagements blend research and communication work — and that is exactly how we expect real-world needs to work. Every engagement is scoped to fit your specific questions, timeline, and budget. Nothing is off-the-shelf.

Service Area 01

Research, Data Insights & Decision Support

Evidence built to answer your hardest questions.

From a rapid advisory session to a full custom study — structured around what you need to know and who needs to act on it. Methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, think-alouds, A/B tests, and controlled experiments are the tools we deploy; they appear as pills within the service areas where they apply.

  • User & UX Research

    Behavioral, cognitive, and usability studies that reveal how real people interact with your products, tools, data visualizations, or information environments — and what gets in the way.

    User-centered design Visualization science Usability testing Interviews & observation Think-alouds Generative research Information architecture Choice architecture Surveys
    Who this is for

    Product, design, and digital teams refining an interface, dashboard, decision-support tool, or data product — and anyone whose users need to understand complex or risk-laden information quickly and accurately.

  • Usability Testing & Design Audits

    Expert evaluations and empirical tests that catch friction, accessibility gaps, cognitive overload, and design failures before they reach your users or trigger a compliance failure.

    Heuristic evaluation User-centered design Visualization science Information architecture Choice architecture Section 508 & WCAG Expert walkthrough Think-alouds Focus groups
    Who this is for

    Product owners, agencies, and federal teams approaching a launch, redesign, or compliance review — especially where data products, forecasts, or decision-support tools must be accessible and usable under pressure.

  • Message Testing

    Empirical studies that measure what a message actually does to an audience — whether it's understood, trusted, remembered, and acted on — before it goes out into the world.

    A/B & controlled experiments Frame testing Comprehension testing Surveys Focus groups Concept validation Statistical modeling
    Who this is for

    Science agencies, health organizations, NGOs, and comms teams who need data — not instinct — telling them which message works for which audience before committing to a campaign or product.

  • Impact Evaluation

    Rigorous measurement of whether a program, campaign, intervention, or product actually achieved what it set out to do — designed to produce findings that hold up to scrutiny.

    Impact frameworks Pre-post design Outcome measurement Mixed methods Surveys Interviews Statistical modeling Evidence synthesis
    Who this is for

    Funders, federal agencies, NGOs, and mission-driven organizations that are accountable for demonstrable outcomes and need defensible evidence that their investment worked.

  • Vulnerability Assessments

    Research that identifies how, why, and which populations are most vulnerable — whether to natural hazards when forecast products fall short, to digital misinformation and scams, or to cognitive and social factors that drive poor risk decisions.

    Risk perception Cognitive vulnerability Hazard exposure analysis Surveys Interviews Focus groups Statistical modeling Evidence synthesis
    Who this is for

    Federal agencies, emergency management organizations, NWS and NOAA offices, NGOs, cybersecurity teams, and public health groups who need to know where their audiences are most exposed — and why.

  • Risk Perceptions & Decisions

    Empirical research into how people perceive risk, process uncertainty, and make decisions under pressure — and what stands between your audience and the protective, informed, or adaptive action you want them to take.

    Risk perception Uncertainty communication Choice architecture Decision science Cognitive barriers A/B & controlled experiments Surveys Interviews Statistical modeling
    Who this is for

    Leaders, agencies, and organizations designing programs, policies, products, or communications that aim to improve decision quality, preparedness, or protective behavior in the face of risk or uncertainty.

  • Behavior Change & Interventions

    Research design, testing, and evaluation of behavioral interventions — grounded in behavioral theory, cognitive science, and real-world evidence — that help audiences adopt protective or adaptive behaviors.

    Behavioral theory Intervention design Choice architecture Social norms A/B & controlled experiments Surveys Focus groups Impact evaluation
    Who this is for

    Public health, environmental, conservation, and climate organizations designing campaigns or programs that need to move people from awareness to action — and need evidence that the intervention is actually working.

Framework & Area of Specialty Across both service areas

SERViC™

Science, Environmental, Risk & Visual Communication. A cross-disciplinary scientific framework that informs every engagement — from the research designs we build to the communication strategies we recommend. It is both an evidence base and a practical lens for understanding how people see, interpret, trust, and act on complex, risky, or uncertain information.

In Research

  • Communication & message testing grounded in SERViC™ theory
  • Visual and data communication effectiveness studies
  • Risk perception and uncertainty comprehension research
  • Evidence synthesis across communication science disciplines

In Communication

  • Practical advisory on science and risk communication strategy
  • Visual design recommendations grounded in cognitive science
  • Message framing and plain-language translation
  • Guidance on communicating uncertainty without losing trust
Service Area 02

Communication Testing, Design & Strategy

Research-grounded strategy for making complex information land.

Not messaging for its own sake — communication built on how audiences actually think, what they trust, and what moves them. Informed by behavioral science, journalism practice, and deep expertise in risk, science, and visual communication.

  • Risk & Science Communication

    Translating technical, uncertain, or high-stakes information so it is understood, trusted, and acted on — without false certainty, unnecessary alarm, or loss of scientific integrity.

    Risk communication Uncertainty framing Plain-language translation Science communication Environmental communication Health communication Hazard communication
    Who this is for

    Agencies, research organizations, NGOs, Cooperative Institutes, and science-based businesses communicating technical findings, forecasts, or risk information to public, professional, or policy audiences.

  • Message Design

    Crafting and structuring messages informed by behavioral data, communication theory, and journalism practice — so the right idea reaches the right audience in the form most likely to be understood, remembered, and acted on.

    Message framing Narrative structure Audience-specific tailoring Plain-language translation Strategic storytelling Campaign messaging
    Who this is for

    Comms, policy, and advocacy teams that need messages built on evidence — not intuition — and written with the precision of journalism and the rigor of communication science.

  • Data & Visual Communication

    Charts, maps, dashboards, and forecast graphics designed around how people actually read and interpret them — not how the data is stored. Grounded in visualization science and cognitive load research.

    Data visualization Visualization science Dashboard design Cognitive-load reduction Decision-focused design Uncertainty visualization User-centered design
    Who this is for

    Anyone whose graphics, forecasts, risk products, or data dashboards must be understood accurately and trusted at a glance — especially where misreading carries real consequences.

  • Audience Research & Segmentation

    Empirical research into who your audiences really are, how they differ, what they trust, and what genuinely moves each group — across cultures, languages, and information environments.

    Audience research Behavioral segmentation Persona development Channel strategy Intercultural communication International audiences Surveys Focus groups
    Who this is for

    Organizations communicating to diverse, hard-to-reach, or culturally distinct populations — including international and multilingual programs where one-size messaging reliably fails.

  • Behavior-Change Strategy

    Social marketing and intervention strategy grounded in behavioral theory — designed to move audiences from awareness through to sustained action, and built to be evaluated against real outcomes.

    Social marketing Behavioral theory Intervention design Campaign strategy Social norms Impact evaluation
    Who this is for

    Public health, environmental, conservation, and climate organizations running campaigns or programs that aim to shift behavior at scale — and need a strategy rooted in science, not assumption.

  • Content & Information Architecture

    Structuring information environments — websites, reports, products, documentation — so audiences find, follow, trust, and remember what matters. Combines cognitive science with editorial judgment.

    Information architecture Content strategy Narrative structure Structural audit Choice architecture Plain-language translation
    Who this is for

    Teams whose content, documentation, data products, or websites have grown faster than their structure — and whose audiences are getting lost, confused, or disengaged as a result.

  • Science Writing & Research Communication

    Translating complex, technical, or data-heavy findings into clear, compelling language for funders, policymakers, journalists, and public audiences. Grounded in journalism training and peer-reviewed publication experience — including a track record of successfully funded federal proposals.

    Grant writing & review Science journalism Policy briefs Funder reports Plain-language translation Press & media relations Peer-reviewed writing
    Who this is for

    Research centers, universities, NGOs, policy think tanks and advocacy organizations, Federal agencies such as NOAA, USGS, NASA, NIDIS, and USDA, and their Cooperative Institutes and national climate adaptation centers — anyone who needs someone who can write about science with both rigor and clarity, and has a track record of funded proposals.

  • Media Literacy & Intercultural Communication

    Designing and leading trainings, curricula, and capacity-building programs that equip audiences to critically evaluate information, navigate digital and AI-generated media, and communicate effectively across cultural and linguistic contexts.

    Media literacy training Science literacy Intercultural communication Workshop & curriculum design International programs News & article development Misinformation resilience
    Who this is for

    International organizations, foundations, and public-interest groups working across cultural contexts — or building community-level resilience to misinformation, AI-generated content, and manipulative media.

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